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'Tweetup' and 'Tag Cloud' Land on OED's List of Top 2009 Words

by Matthew Zuras on December 31, 2009 at 08:30 AM

We reported back in November that the New Oxford American Dictionary had voted "unfriend" as 2009's word of the year. In Britain, the holy birthplace of the OED, a recent survey of this year's neologisms, led by TV personality and lexicographer Susie Dent, revealed that social networking terms remain some of the most popular new words in the English lexicon.

One of the most often used words was "tweetups," a portmanteau of "tweet" and "meet up" that describes gatherings of people organized via Twitter. "Hashtag," "tag cloud," and "Slashdot effect" also appeared on the Words of the Year list, reflecting an English-speaking world obsessed with Web 2.0.

Some words and phrases reflected our other recent obsession: the current economic meltdown. The recurrent use of "Great Recession," "zombie bank," and "staycation" all point to a financially strapped and fiscally paranoid Western world.

Other top words on the list had a decidedly British bent, including: "simples" (an exclamation of ease); "snollygoster" (an unctuous politician); and "jeggings" (skinny jeans plus leggings). We're not really sure if that's indicative of anything, but we're going to throw on some jeggings and heckle a snollygoster at our next tweetup, anyway. [From: Telegraph.co.uk]

Tags: hashtag, language, meetup, oed, oxford english dictionary, OxfordEnglishDictionary, top, tweetup

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